Apple to go big on sapphire in iPhone 6, iPad 6 and beyond?

Not the sapphires we're used to seeing in rings and things You've probably never heard of GT Advanced Technologies, but in future Apple devices, the firm could end up playing a major role. The company, which provides crystal grow equipment and materials for consumer electronics, among other industries, announced today that it's signed a multi-year supply...

Read More

Is the Moto Maker making its way to Sprint on November 11?

Sprint gets a splash of Moto color Let's face it: Moto Maker is what sets the Moto X apart from all the other phones out there. OK maybe not entirely, but the customization options are an undeniable draw. Previously only available on AT&T, a memo has surfaced online stating the Moto Maker feature will arrive on Sprint starting November 11. Though the...

Read More

Forget 4G, even faster LTE Advanced is here - sort of

No so fast anymore are you 4G? EE has switched on the UK's first LTE Advanced mobile network, a little over a year since it launched 4G in Britain - offering theoretical speeds of up to 300Mbps. That's a considerably more than the 30Mbps top speed touted on its current 4G network and also easily eclipses the 60Mbps top speed offered by EE's double speed...

Read More

BlackBerry shares nosedive following revised investment offer

It's hanging in there Shares in troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry have plunged to their lowest in a decade after the Canadian company failed to find a buyer. BlackBerry's shares fell 17% on Monday evening to $6.43 on the Nasdaq after the company scrapped a $3 billion rescue bid from Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH), its largest individual shareholder....

Read More

Windows Phone continues march across Europe, UK growth beats iOS, Android

Lumia popularity boosting Windows Phone Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system was the only of the 'big three' to experience growth in its UK market share during the last few months, a report published on Monday has claimed. While still largely dominant over the chasing pack Apple's iOS (27 per cent) and Google's Android software (58.4 per cent)...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom goes official on AT&T Wireless

A few of weeks after its unscheduled appearance on Twitter, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom went official for AT&T in the United States. The device will be available on November 8 for $199.99 with a two-year contract, or $25 a month through AT&T Next. For a limited time, users who opt for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom will have the chance to pick up a 7" Samsung Galaxy...

Read More

BlackBerry smartphones are here to stay, says company's new CEO

Hang on to that BlackBerry hardware There are more twists and turns to the BlackBerry saga than a 99-cent romance novel, but one thing you can expect to stick around is the company's handset business. Speaking with Reuters, interim CEO John Chen said there are no plans to shutter the loss-making smartphone side of BlackBerry's racket. He added that BlackBerry...

Read More

Verizon-bound Nokia Lumia 929 leaks in high-res photos

The Nokia Lumia 929 entered rumorland a month ago via a press images. Then we saw a hands-on video (already taken down by the user) and even a camera sample from its PureView camera. Today we get to see the first real and high-res photos of the Verizon's Lumia 929, courtesy of WPCentral. Nokia Lumia 929 Nokia Lumia 929 has the same internals and camera tech as...

Read More

Samsung deals with Nokia on patents for another 5 years

Samsung and Nokia have agreed to extend their patent agreement for another 5 years, granting the Korean tech giant access to Nokia phone patents until 2019. Samsung will pay additional compensation for patent use for the period starting January 1, 2014 (which is when the previous agreement was scheduled to end). The exact amount of compensation is expected to...

Read More

BlackBerry takeover plan abandoned as Thorsten Heins steps down

RIP all our Heins puns Things aren't looking any better for BlackBerry right now, with its hopes of finding a buyer having somewhat failed. It's been sniffing around for over two months now in the hope of finding someone to snag the company, with investment firm FairFax Financial proposing a takeover deal. But today BlackBerry announced that the full takeover...

Read More

HTC One to get Android 4.4 KitKat from January

Android KitKat will land on the HTC One next year The HTC One was only the third phone ever get our 5-star rated TechRadar review, and it looks as though the Taiwanese firm is set on trying to keep it at the top after revealing more on its Android 4.4 plans. HTC has confirmed to TechRadar that the Android KitKat update will begin rolling out to HTC One devices...

Read More

Motorola posts teaser page for upcoming Moto G midranger

The Moto G existence has officially been confirmed by Motorola and Google but all we're getting right now is a teaser. The official announcement will take place on November 13, which is next Wednesday. Check out the teaser page here. We received a new tip from an employee of a UK-based retailer with the photo below. Our tipster was told not to put up the...

Read More

Translucent bars in Android KitKat could spell trouble for many

The Nexus 10 is struggling a bit Google's Android 4.4 KitKat update doesn't bring a completely re-imagined operating system to the fore - instead if brings various tweaks and upgrades, one of which is the transparent notification and menu bars. It's hardly a scintillating new feature, but it allows your wallpaper to take full advantage of all of your smartphone's...

Read More

Android 4.4 KitKat release date: when can I get it?

Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is just too old... If you hadn't heard Android 4.4 KitKat is out in the wild on the Google Nexus 5, where have you been? The update doesn't mean that all devices can have a break, with Android KitKat making the cut on some handsets, but not others. With the release of every update, no matter what OS, there are always devices that...

Read More

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean arrives on Samsung Galaxy S4

Galaxy S4 - now with added beans There's good news for Samsung Galaxy S4 owners in the UK as the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update begins to roll out on the handset. The Android 4.3 rollout began in early October, but it is only now making its way to British shores. Our in-office Galaxy S4 has received the update, which includes a boost from version 4.2 to...

Read More

HTC One Two will be the first Sense 6 handset, apparently

HTC. Easy as One Two... err... M8? The HTC One successor, whatever it might be called, will be the first handset running HTC Sense 6, the next phase of the UI that will run on top of Android. The info comes from our old faithful bean-spiller evleaks, who wrote on Twitter with his typical brevity: "HTC M8 will be the first Sense 6.0 handset." As revelations...

Read More

Official Android 4.3 for Samsung Galaxy S III rolling out now

It was just yesterday that the unofficial Android 4.3 update for the Samsung Galaxy S III leaked. It looked like the real deal but the ROM lacked KNOX security support and widgets were still using the old TouchWiz design. Today this very same build is seeding as the official update to Vodafone Ireland Galaxy S III units. As it turns out this is indeed the official...

Read More

UK government bans iPads and phones from secret meetings

No iPads please, we're British iPads and smartphones have apparently been banned from confidential governmental discussions in the UK because of fears they could be turned into bugs by Johnny Foreigner without their owners being any the wiser. That's the official line, anyway. Definitely nothing to do with easily-distracted ministers and their tendency...

Read More

Samsung's first Tizen phone shown off in hands on video

We like... the colours (credit: Sammobile) The rumours of a Samsung Tizen smartphone have been flying around for some time, but things have just taken a step up in the form of a video showing the new operating system in action. The open source Linux-based OS has popped up running on the Samsung Z9005 RedWood, a phone similar to the Galaxy S3 in specs,...

Read More